4:25 AM,
Feb. 9, 2013

Riley Southard and Sophie Kolbe work on a problem in physics class at Pope John Paul II High School.

Written by

Lisa Fingeroot
| The Tennessean

High school junior and new driver Emily McRen uses the physics lessons she learned as a 14-year-old freshman to calculate ways to get the best gas mileage in her car while going up and down the hills near her home.

"It has to do with the forces on the car," she said, laughing at the private game she plays.

McRen, 16, is one of a growing number of Tennessee students to be part of an inverted science curriculum called Physics First. The model turns the traditional high school science program upside down, starting with physics in ninth grade, followed by chemistry in 10th and biology in 11th. The ...